Beitostolen XC: Teichmann, Bjorgen post wins

Axel Teichmann and Marit Bjorgen won the opening distance races of the season at a World Cup cross-country meet on Saturday.

BEITOSTOLEN, Norway — Axel Teichmann and Marit Bjorgen won the opening distance races of the season at a World Cup cross-country meet on Saturday.
    The German covered the men's 15-kilometer freestyle event in 36 minutes, 31.1 seconds, beating runner-up Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic by 6.3 seconds. Anders Sodergren of Sweden was third, 31.3 seconds back.
    Two-time defending overall champion Tobias Angerer of Germany finished eighth.
    After two races, Teichmann shares the overall lead with countryman Josef Wenzl at 100 points. Wenzl, a sprint specialist, did not compete.
    Bjorgen won the women's 10K earlier, beating Vibeke Skofterud by 20.3 seconds.
    Bjorgen, a former two-time overall champion, finished the race in 26 minutes, 16.3 seconds for her 29th World Cup win, but her first in freestyle.
    ''It feels extra special to win my first freestyle race here,'' Bjorgen said. ''I'm very happy because this was Norway's first (World Cup) freestyle win on the women's side since 2003.''
    Charlotte Kalla was third in 26:37.5 for her first career podium finish.
    Virpi Kuitunen, the defending overall champion from Finland, did not compete because of a sore throat. 
    Kris Freeman was 50th and Lars Flora 77th to pace a disappointing U.S. finish. 
    "We're not happy today by any means, but now we know exactly where we are and we can keep moving forward," U.S. coach Pete Vordenberg said. "We'll be better next week in Kuusamo [Finland, Dec. 1-2] and better again in Davos [Switzerland, Dec. 8-9]."
    Bjorgen leads the overall standings with 180 points, 100 ahead of Natalia Matveyeva of Russia. Matveyeva, a sprint specialist, did not compete.
    After relays Sunday in Beitostolen, the World Cup shifts to Kuusamo, above the Arctic Circle in northern Finland, for sprints and classic technique races, another men's 15K and another women's 10K.
   
    — The Associated Press and USSA contributed to this report